Methodology of Criminal Law Theory: Art, Politics or Science?

This book discusses whether criminal law theory, or in more general terms, general law theory can be regarded as a branch of science. The issues addressed in this book are following: Is the criminal law scholarship which obviously informs the legal system itself a form of science, and in what sense? Can there be systemic developments in criminal law theory? The issues concerning the nature of the knowledge of criminal law in the core areas of the field are of course closely linked with issues concerning what legal science is more generally about. A reflective discussion in the field of criminal law on these issues may contribute to the general discussions in legal theory, and also it serves the interest of understanding where criminal law theory stands when legal research is increasingly faced with challenges of interdisciplinarity. With contributions by Prof. Dr. Petter Asp, Prof. Thomas Elholm, Prof. Dr. Liang Genlin, LL.M., LL.B., Prof. Dr. Luís Greco, LL.M, Prof. Dr. Dr. Eric Hilgendorf, Prof. Jørn Jacobsen, Prof. em. Dr. Dr. h.c. Heike Jung, Massimiliano Lanzi, Prof. Dr. Shin Matsuzawa, Prof. Kimmo Nuotio and Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Michael Pawlik, LL.M. (Cantab.)